


Shadows and Rose Thorns

by SpectralScathath



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23408470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpectralScathath/pseuds/SpectralScathath
Summary: In fairy tales, the beast was always cursed, a handsome prince under the monstrosity.The fairy tales were wrong. Adam knew that as certain as he knew the sun rose in the east. And yet, Blake was always such a romantic.Requested Tauradonna oneshot for Shshir.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Shadows and Rose Thorns

In fairy tales, the beast was always cursed, a handsome prince under the monstrosity. An innocent man in need of a lesson, awaiting true love to cure him of his afflictions. His opposite and equal? A daring heroine, or a beautiful princess, to awaken the charming gentleman under the beast’s twisted features.

Adam never believed in fairy tales. Why would he? Freedom had come at a price for him. He had gotten what he wanted, but like a genie’s wish, it was all wrong. He was the beast that would always be an ugly monster, his heart dark and shrivelled as he used his sword for his semblance, refusing to ever let a blow touch him again. That was what _Moonslice_ was good for, turning bloody revenge into beauty.

Blake was beauty too. He loved the passion she held for their cause, and her naivety about the world was charming, in its own way. She was a believer, unlike him. She believed in fairy tales, in equality, in peace. She saw something in him that had been there once, back when he still had a glimmer of hope that life could be good for their people. Things could be fair, be equal. That he could move beyond being the scarred, desecrated thing he was and be a hero, using his brutal strength to protect them all.

That was a childish dream, for a young boy who hadn’t learnt to let go of the chains that weighed him down. Morality, empathy, restraint, all of them useless in this world where strength was all that mattered. He just wanted Blake to see that. Why couldn’t she just understand that there was no right thing in this world? Only the humans who deserved to suffer.

“Adam?” Blake’s voice cut through the fog of hate that had him gripping his sword, his thumb pushing it out of the sheath to show a glimmer of the scarlet blade before he snapped it back into _Blush_ with a small click. Over and over again, the sound of _Wilt_ and _Blush_ calmed him, like a shield against the tempest that sang in his blood. 

“Blake.” He turned to her, using his mask as a shield from her piercing golden gaze. She always seemed to know too much, even about the things he didn’t want her to know. She didn’t like the death, and he tried to respect that part of her, no matter how pitiful it was.

If that meant explaining away justice as mere ‘accidents’, then so be it.

“You’re clicking your sword again.” Her pale hand covered his glove, a bow hiding her ears the way his bull horns could never be hidden. “You only do that when you’re upset.”

Upset? Of course he was upset. Their people got branded and maimed for the crime of existence and he wasn’t out there killing the monsters doing so. “We should be doing more. I lead the Vale chapter here, but Khan’s sent orders to pull back on missions.”

“Maybe she’s worried that we’ll be caught?” Blake gently pulled _Wilt_ from his grasp as she looked up at him with honey eyes, framed by ebony curls. Their relationship, whatever it was, it was new, and unfamiliar, but he liked it. It was nice, to be looked at like he was worth seeing.

“I feel like she doesn’t respect my tactics,” he confessed quietly, hesitating before he raised a hand, brushing some of her hair back. “I’m just following the path she set down for us, and she thinks that I’m doing it wrong.”

Blake gave him a soft smile, looking entranced by his touch even as he noticed her bow twitch, the way it only did when the cat ears below were tilting with discomfort. “I’m sure she doesn’t think that, Adam. She wouldn’t have sent you here if she didn’t believe in you.”

She was right. She always knew how to make his worries fade away. He smiled at her, blue eye warming behind his mask. “You believe in me, Blake. Don’t you?”

Blake hesitated, like she had to think about it. Why would she hesitate? The answer was obvious, right? His mouth twisted into a displeased scowl as he repeated his question, pulling his hand back like she’d burned him. “ _Don’t you_ , Blake?”

“I do, Adam,” she reassured him, hasty and making up for her mistake. He spotted fear flicker at the edge of her expression. Good. She should know better. “I just think- maybe taking a break is good for us. It gives us a chance to catch our breath. We can do something together as well. Maybe a night off?”

He hummed as he thought it over. Perhaps she had a point. It would allow their troops to regain their strength, and for tension to build as the humans waited for the next blow to strike. Perhaps the anticipation would turn to fear. He could enjoy being feared by humanity.

He smiled at her again, his bad mood gone, drifting away like rose petals in the breeze. “You’re right, Blake.”

She smiled at him, relief sweeping through her beautiful topaz eyes as she set _Wilt_ and _Blush_ aside. “Really? That’s good. Thank you, Adam.”

“You’re welcome.” He hesitated before he decided to try something new, hoping it wouldn’t seem too corny or out of place. He cared about her like he’d never cared about anyone before. He didn’t want to lose her. He was _never_ going to lose her. “My darling.”

Blake lit up with a smile, like the dawn after a dark night, a delicate blush tinting her cheeks. He reached out to take her hand, pausing, and she completed the journey herself, her dainty fingers encompassed by his black glove.

He should appreciate her more. She saw so much good in the world, and in him, and in herself. It was admirable, despite how impossible her dream of a better world was. She really was like a princess in a fairy tale, reaching out to cure his beastliness.

He wished she would accept it and join him in the shadows, sometimes. He was starting to get tired of holding back.


End file.
